The status of the mobile policeman arrested in connection with Friday’s shooting of a former House of Representatives, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, and five others at the APC rally for gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on Monday created confusion within police ranks.
The State Commissioner of Police, Bello Ahmed, appeared on a Channels TV programme,where he stated that the suspect had been dismissed from the police force.
The Punch quoted Ahmed as saying, “The policeman involved is dismissed already and even though he’s nursing some injury; and at the appropriate time, he will face the law, of course. Nigerians will be briefed on the outcome of our actions.”
However, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Caleb Ikechukwu, denied that the policeman had been dismissed.
He was quoted as saying, “The policeman is still under orderly room trial and has not been dismissed.
“We have a laid down procedure, it is only on completion of the investigation that the policeman could be dismissed if found culpable. But as it is now, the case is still under investigation. The law must take its due course.”
Bamidele is presently recuperating in a Lagos hospital after an initial five-hour surgery at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) during which bullets were removed from his abdomen and leg.